Kidulthood analysis

Research and Planning: British Social Realism

Location ShootingThe opening sequence for Kidulthood, follows the codes and conventions of British Social Realism film for example it shows a sequence of what it seems to be students in a school playground which is shown from the location shot as we see the school in the background as well as the students in school uniform. The location shot actually makes the film feel a lot more realistic and real because if it was shot in studio then it would get the realness of the film. In addition to this, it helps the audience get a strong sense of the characters and the story behind for example, the opening sequence is quick it does focus by taking showing close-ups of the main characters which is later revealed within the film. This particular shot also allows us to understand more about the characters and what type of genre it is, for example the majority of customers all see to be in school uniform showing that this film is probably a teen drama film. The characters are shown as common and disrespectful for example, they are in school uniform but wear in incorrectly with their top bottoms undone and their ties short in addition to this the girls seem to be wearing big hoop earrings with one girl have her hair up to the side scruffy which are all common stereotypes of ‘chavs’ someone who presumably lives in poverty and crime.

Non-Professional ActorsCharacters within Social Realism are often lower or working class which links to the typical narratives of social realism films, again the majority of British Social Realism films tend to show more younger characters and they tend to be played by non-professional actors, the reason that non-professional actors are used to play these characters are because characters in British Social Realism films usually go through hardships and deal certain social issues for example, in this film the social issue is gang violence, underage drinking and illegal drug taking. So, the non-professional actors add to the realism of the genre as the acting wouldn't be refined and perfect and will show the audience some sort of vulnerability which is important for British Social Realism films. In Kidulthood the actors were around the age of 16-18 and some of the main characters and no professional background.

Editing

There is minimal editing used which is quite common amongst British Social Realism films and the reason for this is because it needs to seem as real as it can do and with lots of editing it could make the audience feel confused with what is going on which is why a lot of British Social Realism films tend to use the idea of ‘invisible editing’ which essentially means the audience feel like they are the fourth wall within the film and can see everything that is going on and due to their being minimal editing used then the film tends to feel a lot more real. In addition to this, camera movement that we see a lot within Kidulthood is a handheld camera. the use of the handheld camera makes the film feel more realistic as it makes the audience follow the character within the story and breaks the ‘hollywood’ feel and makes it seem more rough around the edges linking with the form of the film being British Social Realism Films.

Cinematographyn addition to this, there is usually a lot of establishing shots or wide shots which helps establish the scene and to show the audience where they are being filmed, it also allows the film to seem more realistic and accurate and real-life locations such as parks, council estates and schools. The wide shots allow the audience to see the character in the surrounding area they are in and what’s in the background for example in this shot you can see some of the main characters in the centre of the shot however, as it is a wide shot you can see other people in the background, in this scene are seen to be at house party, this not only shows the audience that they’ll be underage drinking and possibly drug taking as shown throughout the whole film it also shows a stereotypical house party for example, the majority of the characters are standing around and not necessarily ‘partying’.

Cinematography

Although, there are a lot of wide shots and establishing shots there are also close ups throughout the film showing the raw emotion from the characters, for example the girl in the film Alysa has fount out she is pregnant and this shot helps the audience feel closer to character and we almost sympathise with her as she looks upset with what may happen. However, later on in the film we see a different type of close up which instead of us sympathising with the character we end up feeling scared and intimidated.